Houston, Texas: Tossup market. In 2024, voted R+9%. Democratic peak: D+76 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+9MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- TossupAkashic typology
- Population
- 7,791,9792024 5-year
- Median household income
- $82,7672024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 41.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 17.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 37.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+76 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+27 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Houston, TXOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,248,751 | 1,509,908 | 2,804,980 | ||
| R | 1,368,169 | 1,414,630 | 2,821,753 | ||
| R | 1,022,964 | 1,105,117 | 2,222,385 | ||
| R | 846,377 | 1,114,427 | 1,986,124 | ||
| R | 864,354 | 1,049,461 | 1,928,341 | ||
| R | 703,508 | 1,027,880 | 1,742,632 | ||
| R | 610,006 | 888,163 | 1,537,057 | ||
| R | 565,955 | 662,428 | 1,312,887 | ||
| R | 524,798 | 610,878 | 1,419,521 | ||
| R | 507,666 | 685,614 | 1,204,311 | ||
| R | 470,237 | 781,881 | 1,255,489 | ||
| R | 397,703 | 582,842 | 1,019,410 | ||
| R | 460,982 | 476,965 | 946,053 | ||
| R | 285,368 | 495,167 | 784,161 | ||
| R | 260,166 | 265,170 | 657,584 | ||
| D | 331,463 | 204,529 | 537,161 | ||
| R | 223,462 | 229,126 | 463,079 | ||
| R | 143,298 | 224,216 | 373,631 | ||
| R | 169,541 | 213,726 | 383,726 | ||
| D | 99,175 | 61,899 | 193,057 | ||
| D | 117,593 | 19,451 | 171,018 | ||
| D | 124,066 | 33,693 | 157,969 | ||
| D | 98,954 | 13,493 | 112,887 | ||
| D | 94,526 | 14,027 | 109,275 | ||
| D | 46,600 | 43,454 | 90,192 | ||
| D | 54,674 | 18,382 | 78,461 | ||
| D | 29,241 | 16,197 | 61,934 | ||
| D | 27,698 | 9,985 | 39,422 | ||
| D | 21,233 | 3,820 | 30,853 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
7.2%
English
6.8%
Irish
5.0%
American
3.7%
Italian
2.0%
French
1.6%
Polish
0.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 35.7 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$82,767
Houston ranks near the middle of US counties.
Houston$82,767
Texas$78,476
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.4%
Working age (18–64)12.0%
Seniors (65+)12.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
60.9%
speak English only
Spanish29.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander4.9%
Other Indo-European3.5%
Other languages1.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 45.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Houston media market anchors the country's most ethnically diverse major metro, where Latino, Asian-American, and Black voters together outnumber non-Hispanic white voters — a demographic tilt that has steadily compressed Republican margins in Harris County since 2016.
The market's recent history is a story of close margins. The Democratic margin reached seventy-six points in 1936; the Republican margin reached twenty-seven points in 1972. Most other elections have been decided by single-digit points.
Its demographics — a population of 7,791,979, a 41% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $82,767 — situate the market close to national averages on several dimensions.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Houston, Texas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/dma/618/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Houston, Texas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Houston, Texas voted Republican by 9.3 points (R+9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,804,980 votes cast, 1,248,751 went Democratic and 1,509,908 went Republican.
What is Houston, Texas's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Houston, Texas as a "Tossup" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 11 times, Republican 18 times, and other 0 times.
When did Houston, Texas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Houston, Texas voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Houston, Texas?
Houston, Texas has a population of 7,791,979 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Houston, Texas?
Median household income in Houston, Texas is $82,767 — above the national median of $80,734. The Texas state median is $78,476.
What is the political history of Houston, Texas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Houston, Texas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Tossup" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.